Method and apparatus for spacing hair fasteners



F. D. REYNOLDS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR April 12, 1949. 2,466,740

SPACING HAIR FASTENERS '3 heets-Sheet 1 Filed. July 24, 1944 zoZc/s A nl12, 1949. F. D/REYNOLDS 2,466,740

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPAGING'HAIR FASTENERS Filed July 24, 1944 3Sheets-Sheet 2 April 12, 1949. F. D. REYNOLDS 2,466,740

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPACING HAIR FASTENERS Filed July 24, 1944 sSheets-Sheet' s Patented Apr. 12, 1949 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SPACINGHAIR FASTENERS Frank D. Reynolds, Chicago, Ill., assignor to GaylordProducts, Incorporated, a corporation of Delaware Application July 24,1944, Serial No. 546,399

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and appa ratus for arranging aplurality of parts such as hair fasteners in spaced parallel alignmentalong a rod or bar by vibrating same, and has for an object theprovision of an apparatus which is simple in operation, inexpensive inconstruction and which will not readily get out of order.

An object of this invention is to arrange a group of hair fasteners inspaced parallel relation to facilitate subsequent manufacturingoperations such as japanning, tempering, or carding, as set forth inPatent No. 2,432,339 granted December 9, 1947, to Frank D. Reynolds forApparatus for delivering and gripping hair fasteners.

This invention further contemplates the use ofvibratory means forarranging a group of hair fasteners in spaced parallel relation.

Other novel features, details of construction and arrangement of partsare hereinafter set forth in the specification and claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing one formof apparatus embodying features of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view partly in section showing a modifiedform of this invention.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail View in side elevation, showing amodified form of the vibrator wheel.

Fig. '7 is a front elevational view of same.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view showing another modified form of thisinvention.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of Fig.8.

. Fig. 10 is a detail sectional View taken along the line Ill-I0 of Fig.9.

Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view illustrating the manner in which thehair fasteners are mounted upon an oven wire.

Fig. 12 is a detail side elevational view showing a modified form of acatcher rod, and vibrating means.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of thisinvention and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3 therein, the vibratingapparatus is shown as comprising a base I6 having a rod carrier frame I!pivotally connected thereto at I8. The frame I! is supported at its freeend upon a toothed wheel l8 which is secured to shaft 20 journaled inbearings I9. The shaft is driven in the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 1, from any suitable source of power (not shown). The frame isprovided with a relatively high back wall 2i and low front wall 22 forholding one or more catcher rods 23 in an inclined plane.

The catcher rods are held against longitudinal displacement by notches24 formed in the rods for engagement with the upper edge of the frontwall 22. Lateral displacement of the rods is prevented by means ofnotches 26 formed. in the upper edge of the back wall 2|. The catcherrod may be formed of rectangular stock to receive a plurality of hairfasteners 21, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. A plurality of equallyspaced notches 28 are formed in the upper edge of the catcher rod toreceive and equally space several hair fasteners. The form and depth ofthe notches is determined by the weight and size of the hair fasteners,the degree of incline of the catcher rod, and the strength of thevibrations.

In the operation of the apparatus thus described, the catcher rod ismounted upon the frame I! with the hair fasteners grouped at the upperend of the rod as shown in Fig. 1. Rotational movement of the toothedwheel 18 imparts vertical vibrations to the catcher rod and therebycauses the hair fasteners to travel down the catcher rod until each ofthe several hair fasteners is engaged in its respective notch, asillustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. In the spacing of hair fastenersas thus described, it is to be noted that the desired results areaccomplished by causing seating and unseating movement of the hairfasteners into and out of the several notches until each of the hairfasteners is engaged or seated in a notch. In other words, an unseatedhair fastener acts to unseat and take the place of its adjacent seatedhair fastener. After all of the hair fasteners are arranged in properspaced relation, further vibratory movement of the catcher rod will notcause the fasteners to be uns'eated from their respective notches. Afterthe hair fasteners have been thus arranged in spaced relation they aretransformed from the catcher rod to an oven wire 29, as shown in Fig.11, for further manufacturing operations such as tempering, japanning,carding, etc.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate 'a modified form of this invention in which aframe 11 is journaled for lateral vibratory movement. The frame I! isprovided with bearings 3| mounted on a shaft 32 which is secured to abase 33 by end brackets 34. A cam 36 having cam surfaces 31 is securedto a drive shaft 38 journaled in a bearing bracket 39. A cam roller 4|is mounted on the frame IT for engagement by said cam surfaces. It willthus be seen that rotation of the cam 36 imparts vibratory movement-tothe catcher rod 23 and acts to move the hair fasteners down same totheir seated positions in the notches 28.

A modified form of vibrating wheel 42 is i1- lustrated in Figs. 6 and 7and may be employed in place of the toothed wheel 18 illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2 to impart both lateral and vertical vibratory movement tothe catcher rod 23. An electric vibrator of the type shown in Fig. 12may be mounted to vibrate the frame I! longitudinally, in addition toitslateral and vertical movement.

The wheel 42 is formed with cam surfaces 43 for engagement with a cam,roller 44 journaled on a block 46 which in turn is secured to the frameIT. The wheel is also formed with teeth 41 for engagement with the block46.

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 illustrate another modified form of this inventioncomprising an endless belt mounted on rollers 52 which are journaled ona frame 53 and driven by any suitable means. By disposing the axes ofthe rolls at an angle, as shown in Fig. 9, the catcher rod frames ortrays 54 may be formed with front and back walls 5-5 and 5! of equalheight. A plate 58 is pivotally connected to the conveyor frame 53 at 59and is engaged by a toothed wheel 6| to impart vertical vibrations tothe tray 54 and catcher rods 23 supported thereon for spacing the hairfasteners 21. The wheel 6| is secured to a shaft 52 which is journaledin bearings 63 and driven from any source of power. A guide rail 64 isprovided along the lower edge of the belt. In this form of the inventionthe trays of catcher rods are placed upon one end of the endless beltfor spacing the hair fasteners as they pass over the plate 58. It willbe observed that trays of catcher rods as shown in this form of theinvention may readily be stacked upon skids for interdepartmentmovement.

A modified form of catcher rod 66, shown in Fig. 12, is formed of roundwire and provided with a plurality of notches 61 to receive and arrangethe hair fasteners in spaced relation. After being properly spacedthereon, the hair fasteners may either be transferred to an oven wire29, as shown in Fig. 11, or they may be moved transversely on thecatcher rod 65 to occupy the same relative position thereon as theywould occupy on the oven wire in which event the catcher rod also servesto replace the oven wire. In this form of the invention I have shown acatcher rod 66 supported upon a tray 68. Electro-magnetic means such asa solenoid 69 is employed to vibrate the tray to impart longitudinalvibratory movement to the catcher rod for seating the hair fasteners inspaced relation. The trays 68 may be supported by any suitable means.

While this invention has been shown in several forms, it is obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible ofvarious changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof which consists in the employment of any suitable form ofvibratory means, electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, etc., for impartingvibratory movement to a catcher rod in one or more directions forspacing hair fasteners or the like. For example, it may be desirable tovibrate a catcher rod longitudinally, laterally, and vertically insequence, or to vibrate the rod in one direction, or in any combinationof these directions.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for spacing a group of hair fasteners comprising acatcher rod disposed in an inclined plane, said catcher rod having aplurality of notches formed therein, a tray for supporting said catcherrod at its ends, an endless conveyor to receive said tray, and vibratorymeans for moving a group of hair fasteners downwardly along said catcherrod and into seated position in the notches formed therein.

2. An apparatus for spacing a group of hair fasteners comprising acatcher rod disposed in an inclined plane, said catcher rod having aplurality of notches formed therein, a tray for supporting said catcherrod at its ends, means to receive said tray, and vibratory means formoving a group of hair fasteners downwardly along said catcher rod andinto seated position in the notches formed therein.

3. The method of spacing a group of hair fasteners along a notchedcatcher rod which comprises, dispos ng a catcher rod at an angle to ahorizontal plane, arranging a group of hair fasteners to straddle theupper end of said single catcher rod, and then vibrating said catcherrod to move the group of hair fasteners toward the lower end of saidcatcher rod by gravity and into seated spaced position within theirrespective notches.

4. The method of equally spacing a group of hair fasteners along anotched catcher rod which comprises, arranging a group of hair fastenersto straddle one end of a single catcher rod, mounting the catcher rod.at an angle to a horizontal plane with the hair fasteners straddling theupper end thereof, and imparting alternate up and down movement to thecatcher rod to move each of the hair fasteners downwardly along saidcatcher rod and into seated position in their respective notches.

FRANK D. REYNOLDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 816,323 Hellstrom Mar. 2'7, 19061,096,641 Phifer May 12, 1914 1,326,925 Goldberg Jan. 6, 1920 1,448,829Clinton Mar. 20, 1923

